


Wrong delivery?

by TaesKimono



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Babysitting, Deaf Character, Lost and Found, M/M, Mingyu has multiple heart attacks (non-medical), WINGING IT, Wonwoo does too, a tiny bit of horror? i tried, dw they don't actually sit on the baby, fun?, more tags to be added later, multitalented DK, roommates SeokGyu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-10 07:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15286698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaesKimono/pseuds/TaesKimono
Summary: Mingyu opened the door expecting his "Linner" but the restaurant apparently got his order entirely wrong.Or Mingyu is hungry so he orders pizza, only to receive a creepy, big eyed toddler.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wonuisbae(Berns)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=wonuisbae%28Berns%29).



> Hiiiiiiiii, I missed yaaaall <3<3<3
> 
> Thank you for clicking & I hope you enjoy.
> 
>  
> 
> To whoever is interested,  
> This started out as a joke with my gyal @wonuisbae on twt, so this is for you. But even though the idea was so dumb, I still felt like I wanted to write it, and an awesome friend from India (Hi P <3) told me to write whatever I felt like writing and whenever I wanted, her advise helped me re-realise how much I enjoy writing. So P if you read this, I wanna thank you.

 

Carefully he laid down the plastic plates beside his bottled water, marvelling at the copious amount of natural light that bathed his small but modern living room in light, despite the curtains still being drawn.

A soft knock on the door came just seconds before his roommate cranked up the volume of their 65-inch wall mounted, flat screen TV. Quite an extravagant item considering the relatively modest size of the apartment and the gaping hole in their tight finances. Apparently though, at the time of purchase, it _was_ a good idea and the friends trusted the judgement of their past selves, since the truth was much harder to stomach.

 

Fortunately for them, the only thing they’d be required to stomach in the near future was their afternoon meal. _"The not lunch but not quite dinner_ " and therefore _“Linner”_ meal was supposedly en-route for delivery at this very moment, hence the table set up and new Netflix series on standby.

Some might find it strange, but to them, these ambiguously timed meals weren’t really strange at all. Considering they were still growing men in their early twenties with tiring lives, they needed all the fuel they could get, or so they insisted at least.

This greedy way of thinking usually saw them having up to five full meals a day, completely guilt free. Because according to them, _"hungry bellies starve the mind"_ , how could they possibly be expected to be productive on empty stomachs.

 

So, it was with great relief that he bounced over to the front door through the connecting hallway, merrily following the sound of the previous knocks.

Carefully navigating his way past the haphazardly discarded shoes by the entrance. Thankful, that his earphone abused ears had just about managed to pick up the soft sounds, in the first place. In hindsight, he should’ve noticed how uncharacteristic it was, given the current situation. Delivery people were usually very loud, like it was their personal mission to leave a dent or break the door. So really, he should’ve noticed something wasn’t quite right.

But he _didn’t_.

 

He smiled, feeling the skin around his lips pull right back to reveal a strong set of gleaming white teeth. Brandishing his most prized asset, sharp lion-like canines, visibly longer than the surrounding dentition and markedly pointer at the tip. He often got compliments about how _that_ , coupled with his stupidly tall stature, made him look particularly charming, so he had no qualms about cracking his big smiles every once in a while. What he _didn’t_ expect however, was the sinking disappointment in his gut following the lack of his accustomed nasal assaults, the wafting of the delicious smell of glorious food that normally greeted him when he expected deliveries, this time it never came.

His eyes on the other hand, got very much assaulted though. The bright light flooded through the wide-open door unrestrained, the wood framing an empty expanse of clear blue skies, stretching as far as he could see.

There was a distinct lack of a sweaty delivery man with hot food and a bothered face. There wasn’t even a charity worker after his money or religion preacher after his mind, when all he wanted was food. In fact, there appeared to be no human activity whatsoever. But he _certainly_ heard knocks, and it was _certainly_ not the wind, he shut his own brain down before it suggested more dumb thoughts.

 

A humid breeze blew into his face, tickling his loose hairs and causing his irritated eyes to blink, he ducked his head with disappointment, moving back to close the door. It was in that moment, the spilt second _right_ before the door clicked shut, that his eyes clashed with it. In his shock, he swung the door wide open and gaped at the small creature on his doorstep. Looking up at him with huge eyes from its comfortable position on his welcome mat, it blinked at him and he bit back the scream threatening to erupt, instead hissing through his nose at the pain of his fright.

The big eyes continued twinkling up at him, dark as a starry night, it was equal parts adorable as it was terrifying.

“Hi,” his voice cracked but he still managed a wave and what he hoped to be a friendly smile, "who lost _you_?".

The only sign of acknowledgment he received was a head tilt, which he couldn’t decipher. Circling around the small thing he walked onto the road, looking carefully in both directions and deciding whether to yell or not. But the roads were clearly empty and silent, looking back at the toddler now standing by his open door, he decided to post about her on social media and save his vocal cords the stress.

Quickly fishing out his phone, he wasted no time in snapping a few pictures, all identical, not because of his own _lack_ of passion for photography. In fact, it was quite the contrary, he loved photography, but try as he might to get the little girl’s attention, she _simply_ didn’t seem interested at all.

Not as he screamed like a lunatic and rolled on the ground, or ran around the road barefoot, not when he sung the shark song, complete with the embarrassing dance moves. Yet despite it all, she continued to stand, blankly staring at him as if _he_ was the weird one.

He scoffed, sticking his tongue out at the kid for _daring_ to judge him, then he walked past her into his house, _expecting_ her to follow.

 

He looked back, seeing how she turned around to face him again, but she still made no move to enter his house. “ugh, come in?” He offered unsure, but _nothing_.

“O, _Kay_ , then” he mumbled to himself, taking out his phone, he opened the first game he saw and showed it to her. For a while she just stared at the screen and he almost gave up and called the police on the little alien imposter, but then she looked up at him and back at the phone.

After repeating the head movement a few more times, she slowly lifted a chubby hand to grab the phone, but then Mingyu took a step backwards, making her reach again as the phone went out of grasping range. Effectively luring her in, he hoped this wasn't classed as kidnap since he intended no such thing, but she fell for the bait, regardless. _All_ credit to him _because_ he was so smart and _not_ because toddlers weren’t known for being the brightest. 

Two more steps later and he let her have the phone, the device resembling an iPad in her tiny palms. He stood up and closed the front door, then he watched her reaction as she stared up at him for a moment, immediately losing interest in his face and going back to his phone.

 

 

He shook off the _weird_ vibes this kid was giving him and walked back into the living room, a random Netflix show playing on the TV and an engrossed Seokmin who yet to realise anything. _Although_ , Mingyu wasn’t too sure exactly what was happening himself, so he chose to say nothing and stare blankly at the TV for now. The child completely forgotten, along with his phone in the hallway.

 

At some point, he began to follow the show and found himself just as captivated by the corny acting and cringey lines. Then loud banging on the front door forced him to rip his eyes from the screen, just in time to see an excited Seokmin jump off the walls in pure happiness. Literally, running for the door accompanied by the endless sound of singing, _“food, glorious food”._

It didn’t stop even as he came back with the food and _my, was it glorious,_ _indeed_. His mouth watered uncontrollably and his whole body shook in anticipation of that long awaited first bite, and when it came he was far from disappointed. He forgot even his name as he melted into bliss, “hoooph, it’s been so long” he moaned with a mouth _ful_ , hand _ful_ and plate _ful_ of food, all _"full"_ at the same time. Seokmin laughed, nodding in agreement, “ _three_ hours without a meal is _starvation_ , bro.”

“ _Ex_ actly.” He mumbled around his food and the rest of the meal demanded every single ounce of his concentration and consideration as he gave every bite the love, attention and appreciation it deserved. Somewhere in the middle of his blissful food coma, he thought he heard Seokmin say that he was leaving for evening classes and then a night shift of work at the warehouse. He might have replied but his memory was too hazy. He’d fallen asleep sometime after that.

 

 

 

 

 

When he came back from dreamland, the sun was long gone and _even_ the TV fell asleep, after long periods of inactivity. Leaving him completely in the dark, alone. Except he caught a tiny movement from the corner of his right eye, a movement that tested his theory of being alone. It was more of a _feeling_ that something moved rather than relying on sight.

_Now_ , Mingyu wasn’t really one to freak out about being in the dark, nor was he easily scared and although he didn’t generally believe in ghosts and apparitions, he was certain he wasn’t alone. He quickly dismissed the possibility of it being his roommate, since Seokmin would be either screaming his head off while curled into a ball or screaming his head off while curled around him. And since no one else lived here he quickly ruled out the possibility of it being another human. The hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention and goosebumps erupted all over his skin as he caught yet _another_  definite movement, this time _closer_ to him.

His eyes immediately fell shut, his heavy breathing drowning out any sounds the ghost might be making, whether it _was_ or _not_ , he didn’t want to know. Unseeingly, he walked in the direction of where he knew the light switch was, making it to the wall without much incident. Then, he began blindly groping at the general area until his left pinkie grazed the switch and he sighed in relief as he pulled it on.

Cracking an eye open when the light flooded the room and seeped through the tiny gap between his lids, he felt _instantly_ relaxed.

In retrospect, maybe he relaxed _too_ soon. Clearly, he didn’t understand how ghosts worked, did he actually believe it’d go away just because he turned on the light, _baaah, what a simpleton_.

The answer was obviously _"no"_ , he heard shuffling directly behind him, _“I’m not afraid, I’m a grown man.”_ he repeated like a mantra and after bracing himself he turned and screamed as loud as he _could_ without bursting his own eardrums. Then, _very slowly_ his screaming decreased in volume, gradually coming to an end when everything started to make sense.

The silent little girl with the big sparkly eyes was staring at him again, and the first thought that crossed his mind, was that he _really_ didn’t appreciate being judged by a toddler.

The second thought unlocked a whole trail of thoughts that slapped him across the brain so hard, he suffered genuine whiplash and half a concussion. _She was here all along? Did I post for the owner on social media? Do I have to feed it? Where’s my phone?_

His palms gripped handfuls of sweatpants material at his sides, pockets completely empty. Because _of course,_ the final thought took precedency over all the others, _priorities_. Understandably his heart dropped, he felt dizzy and weak, like he was superman suffering a reverse kryptonite effect. He was so weakened without the shiny black phone, that his knees wobbled and buckled under his weight, luckily sending him into the couch cushions and not the hard floor.

He closed his eyes, collecting shards of his shattered sanity and piecing it back together like an exceptionally challenging jigsaw puzzle. One where none of the pieces fit right, but he forced them to work together in their haggard mismatched state. An accurately deep insight into how his brain _always_ operated.

When he opened his eyes again, the little girl had a chubby hand on her equally chubby belly, he understood with _relative_ ease that she was most likely hungry.

It was like an epiphany, because in that rare moment of shared humanity, he found that he could relate to her. _H_ _e_ made that face when he was hungry too, the face that said, _“what is life without food? death is upon us, we’re doomed.”_

 

He stood up slowly, walking over to get some leftover _cold_ pizza from the coffee table, and placed it in front of her on a used paper plate. “Eat?” He squeaked at her, face morphing in shock at how weird he sounded, but she just continued to stare between him and the plate, just like how she did earlier with his phone, until she eventually took it. His _phone_ , of course he’d be one to give it to a toddler and leave her unsupervised.

With narrowed eyes he regarded the little devil as she took tiny bites, nibbling on the sides of the pizza slice. He left her to it and went out to the hallway searching for his phone, thinking that if she didn’t have it on her, then it should be somewhere around here. He hit the lights and was met with polished wood and nothing else, the floors were perfectly phone free, the kitchen door was closed and judging from her height it wasn’t possible for her to reach, the only other place it could be was the shoe rack by the door but aside from shoes, there was _nothing_ else there. 

He sighed, throwing himself down on the sofa and rubbing at his temples, _purel_ y for dramatisation purposes, since he thankfully didn’t have a headache. That’s the _last_ thing he needed right now, he had _bigger_  (small) problems, in the form of a miniature human. He looked down at the kid, only mildly surprised to find that she already had her attention on him and they stared in silence until the eerie moment gave him goosebumps and he narrowed his eyes. He noticed the pizza was finished for the most part and the plate was back on the ground between her chubby legs where he’d first put it, her chubby cheeks and hands were stained with tomato sauce and saliva, some of it all over her lilac dress as well.

She seemed to be at that age where everything _looked_ chubby, not necessarily because she _was_ , but because she was in that awkward, indecisive growth phase where her body wasn’t sure whether to keep her as a baby or let her go. _Either way_ she seemed tired, her gaze lowered, as she began swaying dangerously on the spot. Not that Mingyu was an expert on baby mannerisms or anything, but he definitely knew that if he didn’t stop her big head from hitting the ground, then she’d end up with a barely functioning mismatched brain like his own. And _god forbid_ , he allowed another creature to suffer the same ill fate as him.

 

He reached her just in time to scoop her off the ground, almost dropping her at the shock of how unexpectedly heavy she was, compared to her tiny size. Cautiously, he lowered her down on the sofa, taking extra care as he placed her head on a cushion, then he just stood there, frozen.

_She’s asleep_ , his brain registered. His body instantly lost some tension, and apparently he lost himself too, because he had no idea what the hell to do at this point, _especially_ without his freaking phone. His wandering eyes landed on the table and he began clearing up on auto pilot, recycling the boxes and bottles, disposing correctly of the different types of waste and packing the uneaten food in an air tight container before sliding it into the organised fridge. Naturally moving over to continue clearing up in the kitchen, he began doing the dishes and cleaning all the surfaces, including the stove, before finally sweeping the floor and switching the light off, making sure to click the door shut behind him.

_Something_ about cleaning had a calming effect on Mingyu, because regardless of how he was feeling going _into_ a cleaning task, he always came out feeling better. And it worked really well, both for the house and for himself, a positive symbiotic relationship of sorts. It was _very_ therapeutic for him and many benefited from his stress-cleaning habits, especially since he was _always_ stressed about something. Back in the living room, he almost jumped out of his skin in shock, somehow managing to do it soundlessly as his eyes landed on the little girl, because she _may_ have been here for hours now, but he was still _far_ from used to it. 

 

He grabbed a wet tissue and wiped down the cleared coffee table, then he ended his mini cleaning spree by taking out the trash and locking up, since his roommate had a night shift and wouldn’t be back until 10am tomorrow. Switching on the tv, he went to the news channel and pressed mute, afraid that he might accidentally wake her if he was too loud. The time read 23:04 and he scoffed, _no wonder_ the kid dropped from fatigue, it was so late. He was sure babies slept 75% of the day or _was that cats?_ he wasn’t too sure about the difference anyway. 

Turning to his side where the toddler lay asleep, he began to wonder. _Do they even dream?_ What was he meant to do with her now? He can’t post about her anywhere, he can’t even call the police and the irony is that it’s all _her_ fault or maybe _his?_  since he wasn’t sure whether toddlers could be held accountable for anything. _Still_ , he refused to own up to any wrongdoing, he didn’t want any of this, but he quickly realised he had no choice. Somewhere during his train wreck of thoughts, he grabbed a wet tissue and gently wiped at the pizza stains on her face and hands, the subtle change in pressure as he cleaned her delicate skin came _without_ him even noticing.

 

 

Once he was all finished, he slid off the couch and settled down on the ground, following the passing font at the bottom of the screen again and again with his eyes, but not really reading or understanding the words. Time passed, and his eyelids grew heavy with sleep, his head fell forward as he dozed off, but then a body part that _definitely_ wasn’t his own landed at the back of his head and he immediately jumped to attention.

His blood ran cold as the little girl fell off the edge of the sofa, thanks to his quick reflexes he was moving _even before_ he could fully comprehend the situation, arms spreading out before him to catch her mid-flight and barely saving her from yet _another_ unfortunate accident. Then he just lay there on the carpet, arms outstretched as he blinked, his lethargic brain taking the time to reboot and come back to the present, but even after it _did_ , he just continued to sit there. The child still in his arms and his heartbeat hardly considered at resting pace, because _what if she falls again and I’m not here to catch her_ , that thought terrified him more than he liked to admit. Somehow through this frightening experience, He'd come to terms with the fact that he was _indeed_ responsible for this child now, at least until he found her parent. Which he quickly realised wouldn’t be until morning, since he needed a phone and Seokmin wouldn’t be here with one for another 11 hours.

 

So, he held on to her until his arms grew _incredibly_ tired and he fought back sleep until he felt the bags forming under his eyes. Then it became _too_ much, even superman needs sleep, he told himself. _Slowly_ , he laid her back down on the sofa, stuffing her in the corner and forming a barrier around her with his body, of course making sure she could breathe first. Then he fell asleep faster than he could even blink.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

 

Light, _too much_ of it, slowly dragged him out from under, his conscious crawling behind him at turtle pace. He yawned, stretching his long limbs out until his joints cracked and his legs dangled off the armrest, almost touching the ground on the other end. Snippets of what he assumed to be last night’s dream trickled into focus as the haze of sleep retreated.

 

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the foreign exchanges occurring within it.

There was a little girl with _huge_ eyes, surrounded by silence, she was motionless to the point of disturbing. He would’ve been very scared had he _not_ known how ludicrous and far detached from reality _it_ was.

Why did people dream anyway? It was so strange and unnecessary.

Especially the ones that felt like he was living _through_ them, the ones where his mind joined forces with his body in the greatest betrayal of all time. Forcing him to see, smell, feel and hear his dreams in all its excruciating and sometimes exhilarating details.

_So_ vividly in fact, that if he didn’t know any better, he’d actually believe his senses were properly responding to surrounding stimuli, as they _should_ do. He smiled smugly, not falling for the trick, he moved to lay on his side and wondered how he ended up sleeping on the sofa again. Netflix? Laziness?

He tried to retrace the events prior to falling asleep, but it seemed his brain wasn’t yet done analysing and replaying that strange dream of the little girl.

 

He closed his eyes hoping the action would reset his brain, so he could switch off the dream mode. _Instead_ his ears picked up on his roommate’s distant voice,

“WOOOOOOOW, g _ooooo_ d gi _rrrrr_ l.”

Mingyu instantly frowned at Seokmin’s eager tone. Muffled slightly as his ears alerted him that it was coming from the other’s room upstairs. Although the tone and the general cheeriness could be seen as his roommate’s default voice, the words he spoke were definitely _not._

“H _iiiiiii_ gh f _iiiiiii_ ve” a slapping sound followed the shrill voice and Mingyu shot up, fully awake and _very_ baffled. With a thundering heart he took the stairs three at a time and burst through the fourth door from the left on the landing, Seokmin’s room.

 

Reality slowly set in as he took in the scene before him, no longer under the illusion that it was all a dream. He froze, oh how he really wishes it was.

 

“Oh, hi Gyu, sleep well?” Seokmin greeted with inhuman energy, given the fact that he was up working all night. Mingyu unfroze, shaking his head “ _no”_ and dragged his stressed self onto the bed.

Crying internally at the sight of Seokmin entertaining the big-eyed little girl from yesterday. Meanwhile, his metaphoric tears of searing pain burned him from the inside out, he felt like an empty shell, soulless and alone.

 

“ _As your best friend,_ I don’t think you should _ever_ babysit again, you didn’t even change her diaper. Where are the clean ones?”

Mingyu cracked one eye open, too much new information poured into him, that it sounded like a completely foreign language to his unaccustomed ears. His brain latched onto the final words desperately, “the clean ones?” He repeated, lost.

He Watched blankly as his friend nodded enthusiastically, and attempted to explain, “I looked _every_ where but I couldn’t find them. Where are they?”

 

Mingyu stared at him for a while, uncomprehending, then he turned his vacant gaze up to the ceiling, “I don’t know.” He whispered, voice hollow and foreboding, eyes horrifically wide, anxiety translating to a numbing feeling in his chest.

 

“What do you mean _you don’t know_? You’re supposed to be looking after her, _right_?” 

Mingyu frowned, technically he _was_?

Not necessarily out of choice, but she _was_ currently _his_ responsibility, “ _kin_ da. But she came with nothing, just …her.” He recalled how she showed up instead of his food yesterday and how easily her existence slipped his mind, due to her eerie silence.

Then he winced, hands protecting his ears as he recoiled from Seokmin’s volume, not noticing how the little girl didn’t show any form of reaction to the deafening pitch, seeming far too engrossed scribbling in an old notebook. It resembled his calculus workbook from high school and he hoped it was since he enjoyed watching it get destroyed.

Seokmin sighed, shooting him an apologetic look but Mingyu shrugged, he really didn’t care about calculus anymore.

Then he continued screaming, “But _seeeeriously?_ Who the hell leaves their child with no clean diapers or freaking manual. At least a change of clothes and some kind of...” Mingyu wondered whether he should explain the situation but within seconds he decided against it and drowned Seokmin’s voice out.

Focusing _instead,_ on the toddler who appeared to be displaying more human emotion in Seokmin’s arms than she did the _whole_ of yesterday. There was a faint smile on her face and that carefree aura that all children were blessed with, the same aura she distinctly _lacked_ while she was with him.

Seokmin continued to drone on and then _suddenly_ he paused, turning to look at him seriously, “Mingyu, _as your best friend_ …” Mingyu rolled his eyes, nothing good ever followed those words. Even though Seokmin claimed he was advising him from a place of friendship and care, he _knew_ his roommate was only using the kind words to sugar-coat the insults that followed. “…I demand you stop getting involved with crackhead parents and crackheads in general, your head _seriously_ can’t handle any more cracks.” He narrowed his eyes at Seokmin’s serious tone, like the other was _really_ concerned for him and just nodded in the end, following after them silently as they left the room, down the stairs and back into the living room.

 

 

The girl frowned when Seokmin placed her down and extended her chubby arms towards him, the universal baby language for “ _pick me the fuck up, human_ ”. Mingyu was glad she was finally displaying stereotypical qualities of toddlers, it made him feel _less_ terrified of her.

“ _Awww Dogyeomie_ , she wants you to _hold her_.” He cooed at the sight and copied her adorable pout, eliciting a chuckle from his friend who crouched down and made a series of hand motions in front the baby. Mingyu frowned at his friend’s actions, _too_ structured to be random hand gestures meant to distract her, _too_ intricate to be an impromptu puppet show routine (minus the puppets) and way _too_ intentional for it to be done without intent.

“What are you doing?” Mingyu’s voice betrayed the crippling anxiety and confusion he felt, “I’m talking to her.” Seokmin replied, stating the obvious.

He narrowed his eyes, “Talking?... With your _hands_?” Mingyu’s mind was about to implode, _no_ thing made sense anymore.

Seokmin continued throwing random deliberate shapes at the child and she smiled widely at him in response. Then he ruffled her hair and began addressing him, “How _else_ do I tell the poor deaf baby that I’ll be right back with yummy things?”

“The poor _what_?!” He shrieked, heart jumping in shock, eyes almost rolling out of his skull, he could swear he felt his soul sucked out through his ear at that moment.

He definitely heard the word “deaf”, _as in_ the _lack_ of hearing ability, she _couldn’t_ hear?

“Mingyu?” Seokmin’s face turned from amused to confused to concerned so quickly that he got whiplash _just_ from looking at him. His own confusion soon changed into understanding, laced with panic and he began questioning himself.

How _thick_ was he, that he missed all the signs? Now that he thought about it, it _all_ made sense, how she didn’t seem to understand when he spoke to her, how she hardly responded to anything he did and also the _un_ toddler-like silence.

His ears burnt in embarrassment at the fact that he couldn’t figure such an obvious fact out by himself, needing Seokmin of all people to explain it to him. The burning mortification spread to the rest of his body and also his voice, culminating in a _very_ Mingyu-like outburst.

“ _Shiiit,_ she was _deaf?!_ Go fucking figure, oh my _fucking god_! of fucking course it can’t be a _normal_ baby, it’s a DEAF ONE!”

 

Seokmin stood up, kicking him harder than necessary on the shin, then proceeding to clamp his huge hands either side of her head,

“MINGYU, don’t swear in front of the baby.” He hissed, as the man in question clutched at his leg, pain contorting his features.

“Was that really necessary? She’s deaf for pete’s sake.”

Seokmin gave him a condensing eye roll, “ _Still_ , she’s right _here_. I’m sure her crackhead parents wouldn’t want you swearing around her.”

Her “crackhead parents” don’t even know she’s here, he wanted to scream back. Instead of saying anything however, he opted for a simple nod.

Choosing for the second time not to correct him on the situation, did it even matter? _Maybe_.

But the next thought really _did_ , so he voiced it immediately,

“Lemme borrow your phone real quick.”

 

Seokmin stopped halfway through putting his shoe on and handed him the device with no questions. He immediately dialled his own number, but it went straight to the automated woman telling him he “wasn’t available” and to “try again later”. He cursed under his breath wondering why he even tries sometimes, he scolded himself for hoping that this would be easy, he wouldn’t be Mingyu if life didn’t test him especially harder than everyone else.

His gaze met Seokmin’s glare when he looked up and he found himself mumbling an apology for swearing.

Wasting no time, he went into the camera app, taking a picture of the smiling toddler and signing into his twitter account to post about her, it made more sense than Instagram or Snapchat since he had the most followers on here. He sighed in relief when he pressed the tweet button, it was like having a _particularly_ heavy weight lift off his shoulders.

Seokmin cleared his throat from the door and Mingyu turned to him, “you done with that?” He asked pointing to the phone and Mingyu bit the inside of his lip, “I need your phone to contact her uhm… parents. My phone died.” He blurted out before he could change his mind, Seokmin nodded slowly, seeming to buy the story. He wasn’t _exactly_ lying either, but that still didn’t change the fact that he felt guilty.

“Watch her while I get her things from the store. And for the love of God, do it _properly_.” He nodded again and Seokmin left.

 

Mingyu stared at her as she stared at the closed front door, feeling his heart ache for the poor child. She must be so confused.

And as he picked her up and sat on the armchair with her in his lap and Seokmin’s phone in his left hand continuously refreshing his notifications, the guilt intensified.

 

Maybe it was her food stained clothing or the odour from her diaper that triggered it, but he realised he really didn’t look after her properly. Or maybe it was because he wasn’t being entirely truthful with his friend or maybe because he couldn’t begin to imagine how stressed and heartbroken her parents were. Maybe it was a combination of all of the above, but he suddenly felt overwhelmed with responsibility and regret, he should’ve taken her to the police station the moment he saw her. What the hell was he _thinking_? _Was_ he thinking? Would he be sued for kidnap? Imprisoned? But what kind of kidnapper owned up to the act on social media?

 

She was staring at him with a tilted head and her huge eyes, but all he could do was smile since he didn’t know how to sign. The corner of her mouth lifted, not really a smile but it was _some_ thing, so he let her do her thing and turned his attention back to the phone.

The tweet had already garnered a few dozen retweets and the replies were flooded with comments of people wishing that she be reunited safely with her family. Deep in his bones, he prayed for the same thing.

Then there were those idiots, who took everything as a joke and left comments like “lol wtf, that’s awesome bro”

He cringed but he also understood that he’d totally _be_ that idiot, if he weren’t the one currently experiencing it.

But that was all, there was _no_ sign of anyone who knew her, no one that seemed to recognise her despite the retweet count fast approaching the 200 mark. He groaned, panicking again and just as he was about to hurl the phone across the room, (to the other couch because he was obviously not paying for repairs) he got a DM from one of his mutuals that he’d never spoken to, it read,

 

**-That’s my friend’s niece**

**-Wtf**

Mingyu choked on a mixture of glee and misguided air. So, _not_ a parent but this was a start, he took a deep breath and typed back.

 

**-Where was she last seen?**

 

**-How the fuck would I know?**

**-Hold on**

**-Lemme ask her uncle**

 

He bounced her on his lap while he waited for the familiar ping of the phone and _this_ time, he got a real smile out of her before he checked the message.

 

**-He said he wants your number to call you**

**-He was watching her yesterday when she disappeared**

 

He read over the messages a few times, weighing out the pros and cons of sharing his number on the internet with a complete stranger. Then he typed it out immediately and hit send the moment he realised this was _Seokmin’s_ number and _therefore_ it was fine. Seokmin’s favourite pass time was giving his number to everyone and making friends anyway.

Not even a full minute later the phone shook in his hand and SNSD’s Gee began reverberating through his skull, he swiped right then put it to his ear.

 

 

 

 

“Hello?” He voiced into the speaker, voice higher than normal due to uncertainty.

“Seokmin?” his eyes widened in surprise both at the unexpected reply and the unfamiliar but deeper than expected voice.

The question form of his best friend’s name rang in the stranger’s deep tone. For some reason, he imagined it to be higher and he was suddenly self-conscious of his own voice.

“ _Seokmin_?” He repeated unsurely, checking the interface only to find a nameless number, strange. “Uhm it’s _his_ phone, but _not_ him. Anyway, are you calling about the baby?” He added questioningly.

 

“ _Yes, yes_ I’m her uncle. Is she okay?” Urgency drenched the stranger’s tone, it was like he was momentarily side-tracked by the whole “seokmin” thing but now he was back to worrying about the kid and he sounded _really_ worried.

Mingyu mulled over the question for a few seconds, watching her play with his right pointer finger, he shrugged,

“She’s a little stinky, but _fine…_ she ate, slept and is playing now, so she’s _good_ , I guess” he wasn’t sure what her uncle wanted to hear from him but the shaky breath on the other end and whisper of “ _thank god_ ” assured him that he’d said nothing wrong.

A short silence followed, then Mingyu cleared his throat before it got any longer, “... How do you know Seokmin?” He inquired, curiosity getting the better of him.

 

The stranger made a thinking sound, something like a hum but much deeper, “I met him at a party a few months ago… He gave everyone his number.”

Mingyu chuckled, “Sounds about right. I’m _that_ idiot’s best friend.” He finished with somewhat of an introduction.

The other didn’t laugh but his tone sounded quite amused when he replied, “It’s nice to meet you. So where should I see you to take her back?”

 

Mingyu was so ready to text over his address and put the baby on his doorstep, then forget any of this ever happened. But he remembered all those crime dramas he’d watched, about how you should never trust without proof, “I need to verify you _really are_ who you _say_ you _are,_ first.”

There was a pause, in which his overactive imagination told him this was just a kidnapper, wanting to steal the baby and ransom her. Without his consent, he found himself holding her closer, as if his subconscious was trying to protect her. Then his train of thought was broken as the stranger spoke up,

“O-Kay, understandable... How though?”

 

Whoops, he didn’t think this far. What does he ask? he looked down at her for clues, there’s no point asking what she’s wearing or what she looks like, since he already posted her picture online. In the end he settled for,

“Tell me something only her family would know about her.”

There was a moment of silence, then the stranger’s deep voice spoke sheepishly, “I could, but you can’t confirm that what I say is true… you aren’t her family.“ he sounded embarrassed _for_ him, and Mingyu cringed belatedly at his dumb question, it was too late to take back and he didn’t know how to get himself out of this one.

 

The other man saved him from embarrassing himself further and continued, “But I can send you pictures of her with me.” Then his phone immediately vibrated with new texts from an unknown number. He put him on speaker and clicked on the notifications, blinking at the screen for a few seconds.

The guy didn’t even wait for his response, he just immediately sent the photos, all three with the same girl currently in his arms. Except in the photos she was with a guy he’d never seen before, seemingly around his own age with black hair and a cat-like stare, strong bone structure and very broad shoulders that almost filled the entire frame.

 

“Hello?” The deep questioning tone crackled through his speaker and he fumbled as he nearly lost grip on the phone, not realising he’d been staring at the pictures for so long.

_So_ long, in fact, that he continued to see that feline gaze in his mind even after going off speaker and putting the phone back up to his ear, he wasn’t sure if he was breathing right after that, but he put it down to embarrassment instead of anything related to the pictures.

“Are the pictures fine? Do I need more proof?” the stranger continued to ask.

 

Mingyu shook his head, then decided it was better to use his _voice_ in a phone call, “That’ll do… Those scary big eyes are definitely her.” He mentally facepalmed after letting the final sentence slip. Blame it on his permanently broken filter, perhaps?

This time the stranger actually chuckled at his words, “Yeah, she tends to stare a lot.” Relief flooded over him when the stranger seemed to share the sentiment, so he continued to share his unfiltered thoughts.

“It’s scary, _right_? She’s doing it now too.” He stared at her while she stared right back at him, black eyes as starry as ever.

And the stranger laughed again, Mingyu smiled at his small victory, somehow happy to make the other smile. Maybe it was out of guilt or an act to redeem himself?

 

The cat eyed boy replied thoughtfully, “I think it’s adorable, I’m used to it... So where do I meet you?” His heart skipped a beat at the question, he convinced himself it was because he’d finally be free again. But alarm bells were ringing all over his brain, he couldn’t quite understand the meaning yet, just that _some_ thing was telling him it wasn’t _too_ good.

He ignored the chaotic situation in his mind and focused on his conversation, “I’ll text you the address of the closest park to me, meet me there. Also, what’s your name?” He added as an afterthought, telling himself that it’ll be useful to know, for some unidentified reason.

 

“Jeon Wonwoo, you?” He didn’t have a chance to test the name on his tongue as he replied to him with his own.

 

“I’m Mingyu, Kim Mingyu.”

“Okay Mingyu, see you soon.”

Then he hung up with a goodbye of his own. He’s never heard his name in a voice that deep before, it was _definitely_ something new.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stretching the tension off his shoulders, he sighed. Not feeling any sign of the stress or panic from earlier.

He stood up with the baby in his arms, soul feeling cleansed, rejuvenated and energised, “you’re going home, kid” he screamed in ecstasy, hugging the wide-eyed baby. Twirling cheerfully, with her small body lifted above his head.

He thought that she most likely _didn’t_ understand him, but at least she was smiling.

 

He balanced her in his arms and ran up the stairs to get ready, brushing his teeth, washing his face, applying deodorant and doing all the other TMI things one needed to do in order to look presentable enough to venture into society.

The only difference was that he’s never had to get ready in front of an audience, it was by far the strangest thing he’s ever had to do in memory. Especially while also having to keep an eye on her as she sat outside the open bathroom door with Seokmin’s phone in her hands. He ignored the bizarre nature of the situation and focused on his tasks.

A few minutes later, he was dressed up in a sleeveless army green tank top which he tucked into a pair of summery print shorts. Then he fluffed his hair in the mirror and went back down, just as Seokmin came through the door with a bag of shopping.

 

Mingyu immediately shoved the child in the other’s arms who instantly dropped the shopping to accommodate her, cooing and blowing raspberries on her cheeks, while she smiled and squirmed. “Just change her quickly.” He snapped, suddenly irritated.

Seokmin worked at a daycare on the weekends and had plenty of experience with toddlers, so it was only natural for him to be good with babies. But Mingyu was still jealous at how quick and efficient he was, simultaneously changing her diaper as well as entertaining her.

After dressing her into her new clothes, she looked like a presentable angel again and Seokmin carried her out of the room saying he needed to get a clean spoon or something. Mingyu didn’t quite catch that, he was too busy _seriously_ considering whether he should die for being so useless. But he picked up Seokmin’s phone and texted Wonwoo instead.

 

In the next minute, he typed, then modified, then erased, then retyped, then erased again, and he repeated the process numerous times before he became aware of his actions. He stopped suddenly, wondering why in the world he was overthinking this.

With no valid answer, he quickly hit send, a disbelieving expression on his face at his own strangeness.

 

**-she’s just having breakfast, we’ll be there soon.**

 

Twenty seconds later, ( _yes_ , he counted, _don’t_ ask why) the reply came.

 

**-okay, I’ll wait.**

 

He stared wide eyed at the three words, typing out his surprise.

 

**-you’re already there??**

 

**-I was looking for her with the police all of yesterday**

**-I even slept at the station, do you really think I could relax?**

He was hit with a pang of guilt, of course he couldn’t sleep with his missing baby niece on his mind. Oddly enough, above any words of comfort or reassurance, the only reply Mingyu’s mind could think of was,

 

**-you must stink.**

And he sent it without overthinking, since he switched that function off because it scared him that he valued a stranger’s opinion of him _this_ much.

 

**-lol no I had a quick shower just now**

**-The park address you sent me is actually really close to where I live.**

His heart skipped another beat, he clutched at the overworking organ. Was this normal? Was he dying? He only skipped out on one gym night though.

 

**-oh that’s cool.**

**-have fun waiting.**

 

He sent quickly, too worried about his heart health to continue texting.

 

**-sure.**

 

He looked up from the last text, scrutinising the happy pair on the other sofa, “Are you done stuffing her face? I need to return her now.”

Seokmin chuckled, wiping the baby’s mouth clean and disposing of the rubbish, “Why’re you talking about her like she’s some kind of wrongly delivered parcel?”

 

Mingyu gave him a tight-lipped smile, the kind parents gave their kids when they asked where babies came from, Seokmin didn’t need to know.

Little did his roommate know _just_ how close to the truth, his statement was.

But it was okay now, she was doing well, and he was just about to return her to her rightful place.

The end of this strange rollercoaster journey (which he never asked for and certainly never wanted to repeat) was visible now, and he was relieved to say the least.

 

“Here” Seokmin said depositing the child in his lap and walking off, “wake me up at 3:30pm for class and don’t forget to charge my phone” the loud boy rambled over his shoulder while ascending the steps.

“Yes sir.” Mingyu replied, then he stood up and carried the baby with one hand while gathering her belongings in a plastic bag with the other. Then he shot Wonwoo a new text, knowing that the contact might be a _bit_ excessive, but it was _very_ necessary in his eyes.

 

**-we’re on our way.**

 

The reply was instant,

 

**-great, can’t wait :)**

 

It was _really_ almost the end of this strange rollercoaster journey, (which he still never wanted to repeat) but he was starting to get the idea that _maybe_ it wasn’t such a terrible experience after all, at least _certain_ parts of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed, Kudos & comments are always welcome & appreciated.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading, Idk when I'll post next but I will before next Monday. :D

**Author's Note:**

> I'd appreciate if you left me feedback in the comments, thank you for reading.  
> 


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